"Alain." During breakfast, while Alain was preparing the side dishes, he heard a soft call from Wanhua, who was holding a pot.
The sizzling sound, along with the aroma of eggs and green onions, drifted through the air with the faint scent of her body.
"About your parents' debt, what do you plan to do?"
"..." Alain's chopping motions paused. He looked at the vegetable leaves, still connected by threads, and sighed…
What was bound to happen, had finally happened.
He looked back at the electronic calendar in the living room. The date on it was the 30th.
Today was the day their "relationship" would be torn apart, the day it would completely disintegrate. And the reason, the trigger, was the issue of his parents' debt.
"I haven't really thought about it."
The Alain outside the illusion had the ability to pay it back; after all, he had the prize money from the Safety Assistant. He had the ability to pay, but no reason to.
"Oh… that won't do. You must think about it properly." The girl held the pot with a practiced posture, even having the spare energy to talk to him. "If we get married and you still have a debt, my parents will surely have something to say."
"...That's true." He glanced at Wanhua's profile. The corners of her mouth were still turned up slightly in her usual gentle smile, unchanged.
He understood perfectly well that someone with Wanhua's abilities would not be shackled by a mere "parents" or "family." She had her own ideas.
"So then—" Wanhua's tone shifted as she plated the food. "How about I help you pay it back?"
With a clang, the girl set down the pot and smiled at him. "Just think of it as my dowry to you. How about it?"
Alain didn't stop chopping. Amidst the "thump-thump-thump" sound, he seemed to be considering her words.
After a moment, he said, "Better not."
"Eh?" Wanhua seemed completely unprepared for this answer, her eyes widening slightly. "Why?"
"Because I can't rely on you for everything. After all, it's my own debt."
He placed lettuce into his and Wanhua's bento boxes, then added the ingredients the girl had just finished cooking.
In the past, he had agreed to let Wanhua temporarily help him with the repayment. Even though he had made an agreement with her that very day: the money would be repaid by him after he graduated from university. But it still resulted in... a bad end he would never forget.
The main point of entering the illusion this time was for Alain to try taking a different action, to see if he could avoid the original bad end.
"No, no…" She hurried to Alain's side, grabbing his sleeve.
"You can't. It's such a large sum of money, how can you, a university student, pay it back?"
"Aren't you a university student too?"
"I'm different, I'm really different, Alain." Her denial was particularly earnest.
"Because, Alain, you're an idiot, and I'm a genius."
Wanhua's hands tightened on the corner of his shirt, creating spiderweb-like wrinkles.
"For a genius, that amount of money is nothing."
Looking at her anxious expression, Alain frowned slightly.
In the past event, he had agreed to let Wanhua help him with the repayment. At that time, she was all smiles. But now… after he refused her, it was as if "the sky was falling"?
The current development of the plot was somewhat beyond his expectations.
"I'm not just a university student, I'm also a man." Alain smiled, not minding her words. "I can't just let a girl pay it all back for me, can I?"
"No… I don't mind." She shook her head quickly.
Yang Wanhua's image in the illusion was presented as "Crazy Mita." Looking at her like this, Alain felt as if he could also see the wicked woman from the past. What a pity, the two of them were still fundamentally different.
"I mind." He pretended to look at the electronic calendar, his expression hardening.
Since he wanted to break the Mist Entity's illusion, perhaps the 30th—which was now, this repayment event, was the key to breaking through the illusion. Therefore, no matter how Wanhua pleaded, he would, [today], firmly make up his mind to refuse.
"But you were right about one thing: I need to think carefully about the debt problem."
He said, picking up their bento boxes and walking to the dining table. "You don't have to wait for me for dinner tonight. I plan to go look for a job."
"Eh?" The girl herself didn't realize that her own words had instead encouraged Alain's deliberation.
Wanhua followed behind him with small steps, her little hands clutching her skirt, her head lowered, lost in thought.
"Make sure you eat well." He placed the girl's bento on the table, intending to head straight out.
Before leaving, he glanced at his wrist; the bracelet on it was still displaying his heart rate and other metrics.
"By the way, take this back. It's a bit uncomfortable to wear."
Alain picked up the bracelet, passed it into the girl's hand, and then walked toward the entryway without looking back.
Click, clack, clack
The distance to the door steadily closed, 5 meters, 4 meters, 3 meters…
Alain didn't know if his choice this time would create a brand new ending. He sincerely hoped that behind the door was that mist-shrouded world. That way, he wouldn't have to accompany Wanhua and play her doll game.
Two meters, one meter…
Alain bent down slightly, about to pick up the leather shoes on the floor.
However, through the gap, he saw the girl's delicate legs, which had never strayed far from him. She had always been following behind him. And in the future, it would be the same.
"Bong—!!!"
With a dull thud, Alain felt his mind instantly turn to mush, growing groggy.
His limbs went limp as mud, the strength of an adult male seemingly drained away by a pump, making even standing a luxury.
"Thud."
His head hit the floor heavily, his eyelids fighting to stay open. The excellent lighting gradually dimmed in his vision.
But Alain could still vaguely see, beside those slender calves, the baseball bat she was holding.
Failed… couldn't avoid it, the bad end is here…
Alain used his last bit of strength to raise his eyes, looking at her empty pupils. There, black lines were sketched out circle by circle, like two fruits from the abyss.
"I'm sorry, Alain."
She released the baseball bat, letting it clatter to the floor with a "thud."
"I thought that with that debt, I could lock you by my side forever. In the end… it still wasn't enough."
Wanhua knelt before him, caressing Alain's face with tender affection.
"But… even you like this, I still love so much."
Through his gradually darkening vision, Alain saw the crescent moon-like smile at the corner of her mouth.
"From now on, you'll be mine and mine alone."
His eyes finally closed in exhaustion.
___
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